Cigarette



CIGARETTE Henry E. Killian, Anniston, Ala.

No Drawing. Application April 8, 1959 Serial No. 804,888

1 Claim. (Cl. 131-11) This invention relates to a filter for tobacco smoke and more particularly to a filter which has a natural afiinity for undesirable constituents carried by tobacco smoke.

An object of my invention is to provide a filter for tobacco smoke in which the entire filter is formed from tobacco, thereby eliminating the necessity of forming the filter of foreign materials.

A further object of my invention is to provide a filter for tobacco smoke which shall be simple and inexpensive to manufacture. and which may be employed with cigarettes, cigars and the like with a minimum expenditure of labor and materials, whereby the overall expense of producing the cigarette or the like containing my improved filter is substantially the same as the cost of producing cigarettes and the like without filters.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a filter for tobacco smoke in which the amounts of nicotine, tars and the like contained in the filter may be controlled accurately, whereby the filter can either be a substantially complete filter or a mild filter.

My improved filter is formed by bringing together tobacco fibers and a suitable solvent, such as water, whereby the dissolvable constituents of the tobacco, such as nicotine, tars and the like, are removed. To form a filter material for cigarettes, I take cured, ground cigarette tobacco and bring it in contact with a solvent solution, such as water, whereby the solution extracts the dissolvable constituents from the ground tobacco. Preferably, the tobacco is positioned in bags or the like and immersed in the solution. The length of time that the tobacco is soaked in the solvent depends upon the type of filter material it is desired to produce. That is, if it is desired to produce a mild filter, a shorter period of contact between the tobacco and the solvent solution is required. On the other hand, to produce a complete filter, the tobacco remains in contact with the solvent 21 longer period of time. Furthermore, the actual period of soaking varies with the temperature of the solvent solution. In actual practice I find that water removes the dissolvable constituents at room temperature. However, by heating the solution, the dissolvable constituents are removed at a more rapid rate. With water, I find that by soaking the tobacco in water for approximately one to two hours produces a satisfactory filter material.

After the dissolvable constituents are removed from the tobacco fiber or after the desired amount of the dissolvable constituents are removed from the tobacco fiber, the solvent is removed from the residual fiber immediately to prevent molding of the material. Preferably, the excess water or the like is removed by squeezing the water from the tobacco fiber. The residual fibers States PatentfO 2,934,073 Patented Apr. 26, 1960 'ice and the like. However, as described hereinabove, the actual period of contact between the tobacco fibers and the solvent solution may be increased to obtain a greater extraction of the dissolvable constituents from the fibers instead of employing several dips.

To incorporate the filter in a cigarette or the like, the major portion of the cigarette is composed of cured tobacco in the usual manner. My improved filter mate rial forms one end of the cigarette whereby it constitutes a minor portion of the overall cigarette. The tobacco fibers are wrapped with paper in the usual manner.

While I have described my filter as being particularly adapted for use with cigarettes, it will be apparent that the tobacco fiber of cigars could also be treated in accordance with my improved process whereby a minor portion of the cigar would be in the form of a filter. Also, a suitable filter formed from my improved material could be incorporated in the stems of pipes and the like whereby the pipe smoke would be filtered as it passes therethrough.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have devised an improved filter for tobacco smoke and process for producing the same. By extracting the undesirable constituents from tobacco fiber, such as nicotine, tars and the like, and then employing the residual fibers as a filter, the residual fibers have a natural afiinity for the materials thus extracted, such as nicotine, tars and the like, whereby the material forms an excellent filter material. As the tobacco smoke passes through the filter portion of the cigarette or the like, the tars, nicotine, and the like are redeposited in the tobacco fibers. That is, the nicotine, tars and the like have a tendency to recombine with the tobacco fibers from which the dissolvable contents have been removed, whereby the filter material has a tendency to return to its original state before the dissolvable contents were removed.

By controlling the amount of extraction of the dissolvable contents from the tobacco fiber, filters may be produced to satisfy the various types of smokers. That is, the filter may be substantially free of nicotine, tars and the like by prolonged extraction to form a complete filter. On the other hand, the extraction may be partially completed whereby the filter material still retains a portion of the nicotine, tars and the like, thus forming a mild type of filter. Accordingly, cigarette manufacturers and the like could produce cigarettes which contain no filters at all, cigarettes which contain a mild form of filter and cigarettes which contain a complete filter. At the same time all three types of cigarettes would be formed of all-tobacco material.

While I have described my improved filter as being positioned at one end of the cigarette, I also contemplate positioning my improved filter at both ends of the cigarette, whereby either end of the cigarette could be lit. That is, an efiective filter would be provided regardless of the end of the cigarette which is lit. By providing an all-tobacco filter adjacent each end of the cigarette, the cigarette would not have to be seen when lit, such as occurs when the cigarette is lit in the dark or by blind persons. Furthermore, by providing all-tobacco filters adjacent both ends of the cigarette, the first few draws on are then completely dried by any suitable means which will suggest itself to one skilled in the art, such as by heating or the like.

The tobacco fibers may be dipped in the solvent solution several times in order to obtain maximum extraction of the undesirable constituents, such as nicotine, tars ments herein disclosed for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

What I claim is: i V

A cigarette comprising ground tobacco fibers adjacent each end thereof having at least a portion of the .dissolvable constituents extracted therefrom by solvent f nose-01a j extraction whereby either end of the cigarette can be lit and the first draws on the cigarette are milder.

References Cited in the file of this patent 

